


of all left unspoken (some need to be said)

by sanguinekitten



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: 5+1 Things, Fluff, Happy Ending, Kageyama Tobio is a Mess, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, my fave ship is actually kenhina but wow you really can't tell from my posted works and drafts, or as slow burn as you can get in a oneshot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-16 01:02:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29692647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanguinekitten/pseuds/sanguinekitten
Summary: Kageyama's not very good with words, but that's only to be expected. He's especially not good with nice words, or words about feelings, or nice words about his feelings to confess to a certain person who just so happens to be great at both words and feelings.(Five things Kageyama doesn't say, and one thing he does.)
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
Comments: 11
Kudos: 91





	of all left unspoken (some need to be said)

**Author's Note:**

> i actually hate this but posted it anyways since kagehina makes everything better + one person's trash is another person's treasure so i hope at least a few of you guys like this !

_i._

Kageyama doesn't have to tell Hinata that he is absolute shit at puzzles - the disfigured half-image on the floor speaks for itself.

It's not even a half-image, Hinata realizes as he stares at it. They're seven puzzle pieces loosely joined together while the rest of the pieces are scattered around it. It's almost as if _someone_ threw them aside in a fit of rage.

"This is orange." Hinata points at two disjointed pieces. "This is blue."

Kageyama stares blankly at him.

Hinata tries again. "These two don't go together."

Kageyama frowns. "Why?"

"Because they're different colors!" Now _Hinata's_ about to throw everything, including his stupid puzzle partner, out of the window in a fit of rage.

Then Kageyama tilts his head, and Hinata realizes that throwing him out of the window could damage his neck and that means Hinata will never see the head tilt ever again. That's just about the only thing that stops him. He takes a deep breath. "Look, this is probably part of the monkey and this is part of the elephant."

Kageyama mutters about how monkeys aren't orange and elephants aren't blue. "How am I supposed to solve this when I don't even know what it's supposed to look like?" he grumbles.

"You idiot, the picture is right here," Hinata says as he holds the cover up. He's reconsidering whether the head tilt is that important to him. Surely there's some other black-haired blue-eyed setter out there with a matching head tilt.

Kageyama turns to the cover and studies it so intensely that Hinata regrets holding it so close to his face. A blush creeps up his neck and he squirms under Kageyama's gaze.

Eventually Hinata starts to get concerned because Kageyama's been staring for way too long. His eyes are glazing over while an almost-smile settles onto his face and Hinata wonders if he's doing the right thing when he waves a hand in front of Kageyama's face. He looks weirdly content - happy, even. Hinata has no idea why a blue elephant and orange monkey would make him look like that but whatever, it's Kageyama. He's weird.

"You look creepy," Hinata tells him when his eyes finally return back to focus.

He scowls. "What?"

"You were staring like a creepy old man." Hinata hugs the cover to his chest, pretending to protect the picture. "What did the monkey ever do to you?"

Kageyama glares at him before bringing his gaze to the floor to study the puzzle pieces. He tries in vain to connect even more pieces that should so obviously not be connected. Hinata wonders if Kageyama is blind. It would certainly explain how he hasn't noticed Hinata's feelings yet.

"It's always easier to do the edges first," Hinata says after watching Kageyama struggle for two more minutes. "Let's sort out all the edges and then put them together."

Kageyama grunts in agreement and they begin sifting through the pieces. It spirals into a heated competition.

"I have one!"

"Here!"

"Is there an extra point for corners?"

"Dumbass, why would there be extra points?"

"Hey - stop pushing my hand!"

"Foul! I call a foul!"

"Stop hogging all the pieces!"

They finish with Kageyama finding 30 and Hinata finding 25. "It's not that big of a gap," he grumbles when Kageyama throws him a satisfied smirk.

Hinata's edge strategy works, and it takes them four more hours to put it all together. It should be faster, but Kageyama's the worst puzzle-solver Hinata's ever seen.

"I guess you're only good at volleyball," Hinata teases as he places the last few pieces.

Kageyama scowls. "What's wrong with volleyball? We should've just practiced instead of doing this stupid puzzle." He raises his arm and is about to sweep them all aside again when Hinata flings himself on the puzzle.

"No! Stay back!" Hinata shrieks.

Kageyama brings his raised arm down on Hinata's head instead. "Dumbass! Stop being so loud!"

"You're louder!"

"You started it!"

Hinata scrunches up his nose. "If you didn't want to do this, you could've just said. You were the one who suggested it!"

Kageyama glares at him. "Only because you - "

"All I said was the elephant and monkey looked like us!" Hinata whines. "You were the one who wanted to buy it!"

"I - What - You were the one who wanted to play it!" Kageyama shoots back. Hinata can see his ears reddening, probably from irritation.

"Why would you buy it if you didn't wanna play?" Hinata asks. He shakes his head. "You really are weird, Bakageyama." If Kageyama didn't want to play, he could've just said so. Hinata didn't even try to force him.

Kageyama's frantic voice pulls him from his thoughts. "Dumbass! Get off!" He feels himself being shoved away.

"Ouch!" he yells. "What's your pro - " His eyes widen at the sight.

The picture is reduced to scattered pieces where Hinata laid on it, which is just about everywhere. "No!" Hinata screams, unable to tear his eyes away from the disaster. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Kageyama rolling on the ground, moaning in despair.

"Dumbass," Kageyama says between moans. "This is all your fault."

Hinata can't say much to defend himself. He stares at the damage. It's almost like it's taunting him. They spend what feels like an eternity mourning over the tragedy. (It was probably fifty seconds.)

"Oi." Kageyama's voice is gruff, but Hinata can hear the encouragement underneath. "Come on. We can fix it." When did he stop rolling on the floor?

Hinata heaves a big sigh, which only earns him a smack on the head as they rearrange the pieces. He sneaks glances at Kageyama. His gaze darts back and forth between two pieces, trying to figure out if they'll fit or not. His hair flops forward a bit, and Hinata wonders if he got a new shampoo.

"They'll fit," Hinata says after Kageyama studies - or glares - at the two pieces so hard he's worried they'll explode. "You really suck."

Kageyama rolls his eyes as the two pieces do, in fact, connect. "Like you're good at this. You just ruined the entire puzzle."

Hinata bristles. "Hey! I'm better than you!" Then he pauses. "Kageyama?"

"What?" Kageyama asks. He's leaning forward to look at the picture and Hinata realizes that if they both leaned just a bit more they could kiss.

Wait. That isn't the issue right now.

"Where's the last piece?" Hinata points to the one empty square in the middle of the picture.

There's a second where they both stare at each other and blink.

"You don't have it?" Kageyama says it quietly, as if he knows the answer and is too afraid to hear it.

Hinata shakes his head slowly, letting each motion drive the painful truth.

Then both boys completely lose their shit.

(They find the missing piece the next day under Hinata's mattress, but that's after a mental breakdown and a hair-pulling match ensue.)

* * *

_ii._

Hinata's always noticed the little scribbles in the corners of Kageyama's notebook pages. They're only a few squiggly lines or some shaded shapes, but he should've known Kageyama secretly pursues more ambitious projects.

It's when Kageyama goes to the bathroom that Hinata discovers it. They're here to study, so Hinata plops down on his bed and pulls out a random notebook. He's not sure who it belongs to, but it's quickly answered when he's greeted by scrawled handwriting and doodled corners. Kageyama's handwriting is terrible, and Hinata's pretty sure these notes are wrong anyway, so he doesn't waste any time trying to decipher them. Instead he idly flips through the pages and comes across an entire page filled with drawings.

They're cute, Hinata realizes - and they make him feel all warm and happy inside. There are drawings of a smiley sun and the elephant and monkey puzzle they assembled last week and what looks like a scowling milk box (Hinata assumes it's a self-portrait) and Hinata can't hold back his laugh. Kageyama really is a stupid dork who makes Hinata stupidly happy.

He flips through the pages and finds more artworks that could rival...whatever the name of that one famous painter they learned in History is. A house with a little picket fence, an octopus, an apple tree, some random scowling faces (again, probably self-portraits. Jeez, he had no idea Kageyama was so self-obsessed.) and a shooting star.

He looks up as Kageyama opens the door. "Did you draw these? They're cute!"

Kageyama instantly leaps out and snatches the notebook away. As he flips through the pages with a slightly panicked expression, Hinata laughs. "Why are you freaking out? Did you write any love letters there?"

That must have been true, because Kageyama jerks back to face him and his eyes are wide and frantic. Oops. "I was joking," Hinata assures him. "I didn't see anything." He'll take the chance to tease him later, but for now, he really doesn't want Kageyama to spontaneously combust right in Hinata's house. (He'll have to take responsibility if Kageyama messes up in the practice match tomorrow and the Captain would kill him.) He ignores the sinking feeling in his stomach at the thought of Kageyama writing love letters to someone.

Kageyama finishes flipping through the notebook for the third time and finally drops it. To anyone but Hinata, he would seem pacified, but Hinata can see how his fingers drum against his thigh and his eyes dart around at nothing in particular. "Come on!" Hinata says to lift the mood. "We have, like, five pages of Calculus to do. And maybe later you can show me how to draw the little milk box faces."

Kageyama scowls at him, but the tension on his jaw disappears and Hinata's glad he feels relaxed enough to thwack him on the head. "Shut up," Kageyama says, and his fingers are now relaxed (or as relaxed as you can be when pulling something out of its roots) on Hinata's hair.

Hinata makes it a mission to find as much of Kageyama's doodles as he can. He finds rocket ships and fishes and flowers and sushi. His favorites are the ones of the volleyball court - little doodles of players diving after the ball, or jumping to spike, or standing in formation to receive. They're cute matchstick figures with intense slanted eyebrows and hairstyles that vaguely resemble the Karasuno Volleyball Team. (Kageyama draws Nishinoya's hair like a weird blob with a hole in the middle, and it looks stupid but also way too cute.) Hinata stops himself from sending a picture to the group chat. For some reason, these feel like a little secret between him and Kageyama, although the latter hates when he looks at the doodles.

Kageyama doodles Hinata a lot, too. It's not nearly as romantic as it sounds, though, because he's drawn Monkey Hinata, Crow Hinata, Tangerine Hinata, Milk Box Hinata (alongside Milk Box Kageyama, which makes Hinata feel giddy with joy despite himself) and Hinata himself with spiky hair and a dumb grin.

"I don't smile that big," Hinata says in protest. He's sitting on his porch, leafing through Kageyama's notebook after invading his bag.

Kageyama doesn't even look away from the ball he's bouncing. "Yes, you do."

Hinata flips through the pages and catches a glimpse of a heart doodle. It's the cheesy kind with an arrow drawn through it and the initials KT with some other letters Hinata doesn't catch. He's too busy hyperventilating and pretending he's not hyperventilating because what the hell? Kageyama likes someone? And is drawing heart doodles like they're in sixth grade?

What has the world come to?

Hinata deliberately goes back to the doodle of himself. He doesn't want to see the other set of initials, not only because it's probably going to crush his heart, but also because he wants to respect Kageyama's privacy. He doesn't want to be an intrusive jerk.

He takes a deep breath and makes sure his voice is steady. "I like the way you draw me," he says, and his tone is casual, but he means it. Even if it is just a doodle, he loves how Kageyama uses specifically orange pens whenever he draws Hinata, and the fact that he stretches Hinata's grin as far as he does in real life. There's a certain radiance to Doodle Hinata when he's drawn by Kageyama, whether he's in Monkey, Tangerine, or Milk Box form.

The ball drops. "What notebook are you looking at?" Kageyama asks, and he's frantic as he flips through the pages, face bright red.

"All I saw were drawings of me," Hinata says. "Who knew you were so obsessed?"

He means it as a joke, but Kageyama looks like he's about to faint. "Okay! I saw the heart doodles but I didn't see the name," he says, hoping the truth will calm Kageyama down.

Kageyama eyes him warily. "You didn't?"

Hinata shakes his head. "No, I figured you didn't want people to know."

Kageyama nods his head stiffly and looks down at the ground, then to the notebook, then to Hinata before he stuffs the notebook inside his bag and goes back to tossing the ball.

Hinata feels a lump in his throat as he asks, "But do you want to tell me? I could help you or something."

Kageyama tosses the ball lower, and Hinata knows he's considering it. "It's..."

He trails off and Hinata can't help but think how good he looks at this moment, flushed and flustered and thoughtful. He wonders who could possibly make Kageyama look like this.

"It's no one you know," Kageyama finishes. The ball goes higher and higher into the air.

"Oh," Hinata mumbles. He doesn't what else to say.

Kageyama doesn't tell Hinata that he doodles in class, but Hinata knows anyway from the squiggles in the margins and milk boxes in the back of the page (and the heart doodles hidden away in his green notebook, but Hinata's trying his very best not to think about that).

* * *

_iii._

Kageyama doesn't tell Hinata he likes broccoli, but why would he when broccoli and Hinata are sworn enemies?

Kageyama has a very specific broccoli-eating routine. He always starts with the biggest ones first, leaving the smallest for last. He eats the stalk in one bite before he nibbles at the top, taking maybe three or four little bites to finish it off. He drinks water before he eats the broccoli, but drinks milk after. Kageyama doesn't tell Hinata any of this either, but Hinata watches Kageyama way too much during lunch break and by now the routine is carved into his mind.

Hinata hates broccoli, so he dumps everything into Kageyama's plate. "You're my favorite garbage dump," he jokes, and Kageyama shoots him a dirty look, broccoli already on its way to his mouth.

Hinata can't stop thinking about the heart doodles in Kageyama's notebook. Who is it for? As far as he knows, Kageyama doesn't have much friends aside from the volleyball team. He knows a few other players outside of school and has maybe two friends in his class, but Hinata doesn't know anyone close enough for Kageyama to be that lovesick about.

He casts a glance at Kageyama, scrolling through his phone and munching on his lunch, and decides that he's not lovesick and it's probably just a stupid crush. Nothing to be heartbroken about.

"Oi." Kageyama looks up from his phone. "Stop zoning out and eat."

Hinata blushes because _shit_ Kageyama caught him looking. He chews noisily, making a big show out of eating lunch, because he's obviously not staring at the boy beside him (why would he? It's not like he has a crush on him or anything.) He's completely engrossed in his bento box. Look at that! Rice, potato salad, salmon, Kageyama right beside him with his stupid floppy hair and stupid scowling lips that Hinata really wants to kiss right now...

He doesn't even notice he's scraping his chopsticks until Kageyama catches his wrist with a glare. "Can't you eat properly?"

Hinata sticks his tongue out. "Can't you?"

Kageyama shakes his head. "You're so messy." He's right - there are grains of rice around the table and sauce on Hinata's pant leg.

Hinata brushes the crumbs aside and clears his throat. "I'm just excited for today. You said we're trying out a new spike, right?"

"Yeah, but - " Kageyama's eyes narrow and he leans forward. "You have something on your face."

Hinata wipes his face on his sleeve, awkwardly leaning away. Kageyama follows him anyways, leaning even more forward.

"You didn't get it." Kageyama sounds unimpressed.

Hinata uses his tongue this time, licking the corners of his lips while he tries not to focus on Kageyama's face right in front of him. The glare isn't scary, just intensely focused, and Hinata feels his face heat up.

Then Kageyama lifts his thumb, and for a split second Hinata thinks he's gonna wipe it off for him oh my God it's straight out of a shoujo manga is this finally _the_ moment but the thumb lowers and the lips distance and instead it's a tissue handed to him. "It's on the left side of your face, near your chin."

Thanks, Hinata thinks, but I'd rather have your lips instead.

He's a bit harder on the tissue than he needs to be, rubbing it roughly on his face and accidentally tearing it apart, but that tissue has a personal vendetta against Hinata.

(He's too busy assailing the tissue to notice Kageyama shoving broccoli into his mouth whole.)

* * *

_iv._

They're walking home together after a long three extra hours of practice, and Hinata's talking about the dream he had last night wherein he's lost in a jungle and the only way he can get out is if he jumps above the trees and spikes right into a spider web. (He doesn't mention that Kageyama appears as an elephant and he pets Hinata with his long trunk and he helps carry Hinata out of the jungle because, well, it just doesn't seem necessary.) He's sure there's some symbolism to his dream like how jumping can solve every problem or whatever, and he's about to ask Kageyama's thoughts on it even though he's sure they'll be equally stupid when the footsteps beside him still.

Hinata turns and is about to ask what the problem is when he sees Kageyama standing painfully still, lips in a tight line and jaw tense. His mouth, as usual, is set in a scowl - this time, it's his focused scowl, the one he gets when he's trying his best not to screw something up.

Hinata laughs - quietly, in case he screws up whatever it is Kageyama's doing - and waves his arms around in a message that hopefully conveys _What the hell are you doing?_

Kageyama tilts his head forward and Hinata sees a tiny kitten, white with grey ears and tail tips. Hinata's still confused. Okay, sure, there's a kitten, so why does Kageyama look constipated?

Kageyama inches towards the kitten like he's stepping on shards of glass. The kitten licks itself, completely unaware that its being stalked like prey. The kitten moves a little in their direction, and Hinata hears Kageyama hold his breath. (That's really not the type of thing Hinata should hear but Kageyama sucks at subtlety as much as he sucks at puzzles.)

It's only when Kageyama bends a little lower and stretches his arm out a little bit when Hinata realizes that he's trying to pet the cat. He bites back a laugh.

When Kageyama finally gets close enough, he slowly leans down. The kitten looks up, startled, and runs away. Hinata laughs, because what the hell, that was actually really cute, and he's about to make fun of Kageyama when the other boy's gaze drops and shoulders slump.

Hinata knows that look, even though he doesn't see it very often. It's the look he had when Aoba Johsai defeated them at Spring Inter-High. It's the look he has when he remembers his middle school team and he think nobody's looking to see his feet drag. Kageyama doesn't say it, but Hinata knows he's sad and disappointed over... getting rejected by a kitten?

God, what an idiot. No wonder Hinata likes him so much.

"Oops, sorry about that," Hinata says, voice bright in an effort to cheer him up. "I scared it away."

Kageyama starts walking again. "It wasn't you."

"What do you mean?" Hinata bounces beside him. "I was being way too loud."

"Animals don't like me," Kageyama says, and he says it in such a despondent tone that Hinata's heart wrenches. He thinks how weird it is that Kageyama could care less if he offends actual humans, but seems heartbroken at an animal running away from him. It's stupid and adorable and so utterly Kageyama that something blooms inside his chest.

Hinata assures him that that's not true and the next time they see a kitten it'll fall in love with him and want to cuddle with him forever. Kageyama stares at him a bit after that, and Hinata really hates how he said those words with moony eyes and blushing cheeks. He makes it his mission to find cuddly animals and bring them to Kageyama, just for the other boy's eyes to light up and shoulders to relax.

"Are you a dog person or a cat person?" Hinata asks while they're picking up the balls from morning practice.

"Both," Kageyama says immediately, and Hinata thinks he's going to explode at the eagerness in Kageyama's voice.

"Come with me on Saturday," Hinata says. His half-baked plan is beginning to take shape.

Kageyama meets up with him the next day at the store halfway between their houses, with a questioning gaze and hands stuffed inside his pockets. "Should I have brought a volleyball?"

Hinata shakes his head, pauses, considers it, then shrugs. "If we want to play we can just get one from my house. Where we're going isn't far."

Hinata takes him to a dog park where his parents would take him and Natsu sometimes on the weekends. They had begged to get a dog, but Natsu was too young and Hinata was too busy, so they settled with this.

They spend an entire afternoon there, playing with the dogs whose owners allow it. At first Kageyama hangs back, like he's scared to be rejected again, and the dogs' tails are tense, but eventually he relaxes and even lets a quiet laugh escape sometimes. His laugh is gruff and awkward but Hinata thinks it's the most beautiful laugh he's ever heard. (Natsu's is still the cutest.)

They're playing with a golden retriever - her name is Toshiko, the owner tells them - and it's almost five p.m. already. Kageyama's beaming, in his own Kageyama way, with his loose jaw and bright eyes and slightly relaxed scowl. He looks up from teaching Toshiko how to high-five, and Hinata blushes. He was caught staring again, but Kageyama doesn't seemed to mind.

"Hinata, I..." There's a weight to his words that stops the Earth's rotation and drowns out the barks around them and Hinata holds his breath as Kageyama's gaze captures his.

But then he exhales and Kageyama's gaze shifts somewhere behind Hinata. "I like cute stuff," he says, and it's so underwhelming Hinata almost laughs. "So thanks."

This time Hinata does laugh, and if he ignores the disappointment laced between breaths, then maybe he can focus on this Saturday afternoon between him and Kageyama. "No worries! But toss to me on Monday, okay?"

Kageyama nods, satisfied, but Hinata isn't finished.

"I like cute stuff, too," he says.

(He isn't just talking about puppies and kittens.)

* * *

_v._

Kageyama hates horror movies. It's common knowledge to the Karasuno Volleyball Team. It's not like Kageyama tells any of them, but Kageyama had ended up on Hinata's lap with his face buried in Hinata's hair the last time they watched The Conjuring during their sleepover, so nothing more has to be said (that doesn't stop Kageyama from saying too much when he detaches himself from Hinata and making up more unlikely excuses everytime.)

Hinata knows Kageyama can't sleep after watching horror movies, so at movie night in Hinata's house, they usually settle for an action movie with a bunch of explosions and fist-fights. Hinata likes horror movies though, and Kageyama knows this (but only because Hinata told him proudly after Kageyama all but fainted during the sleepover), so once in awhile Kageyama grips the blanket and allows Hinata to choose some other gruesome nightmare to sit through.

And if Hinata likes horror movies a tiny bit more because Kageyama clings onto him and they end up sleeping in each other's arms, well, it's nobody's business.

It's their usual routine. He picks out a horror movie, (Kageyama groans at the cover photo, which is a girl with a disfigured and bloodied face) they sit through it, Kageyama shifts closer, Hinata pretends not to notice how close Kageyama's lips are to his neck, Kageyama screams, Hinata makes fun of him, they drop the popcorn, and Kageyama hogs the blanket. When the protagonist dies a gruesome death as a finale of several gruesome deaths throughout the movie, Kageyama shivers and Hinata draws him closer as he plays a chill indie film to calm both of them down enough to sleep.

"Turn on the lights," Kageyama orders him as the indie film's opening credits roll.

"Why?" Hinata teases. His arm is slung around the bigger boy's shoulder.

Kageyama elbows him in the side. "Asshole."

"What's the magic word?" Hinata asks.

A pause, then a sharper elbow. "Fucking asshole."

Hinata throws a mock glare at him. "Language! Is that any way to talk your cuddle buddy?"

Kageyama shoves Hinata off, and Hinata swears he could see light pink spreading in Kageyama's cheeks. "Please turn on the lights."

Hinata laughs as he complies. The light hurts his eyes, and he squints a little to get used to it. As usual, Kageyama's wrapped in the blanket and curled on the couch, glaring at the movie while popcorn is scattered around the floor and a new orange juice stain forms on his bed sheets. This is how his room looks like everytime they watch a movie, and he still hasn't gotten used to the awful cleaning session his mom makes him do after.

He also hasn't gotten used to seeing Kageyama so soft. All this cuddling and sleeping together (very innocently) is reserved exclusively for horror movie night, and Hinata's sure that if he drew Kageyama close and wrapped a blanket around them and draped his left leg on Kageyama's lap on any other occasion, he would get a serve to the back of his head. But it's nice, and he's glad that they can do this at all. He should be grateful that Kageyama's a coward.

"You know what," Hinata says, breaking the silence of the on-screen hero staring at a spot in the couch. "Haunted houses are probably really fun with the team. We should go."

"Shut up or I'll push you off the couch," Kageyama grumbles.

Hinata laughs and nestles even closer to Kageyama (just because he _can_ ) before he continues. "Wouldn't that be fun? It'll be dark and everyone will be screaming and running around. I bet Azumane-san would hold Noya-san's hand the entire time - wouldn't that be cute?"

"Haunted houses are dark, huh?" Kageyama muses. "That mean's it'll be easier to murder you. I could disguise your dead body as a prop or something."

Hinata scoffs. "You wouldn't murder me."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"You're gonna need me to protect you." Hinata grins.

"What - " Kageyama splutters. "I don't need protecting!"

"Uh-huh."

"I don't!"

"Sure."

"Especially from you!"

"Okay."

"You're, like, the same height as an ant!"

"Yup," Hinata agreed, unoffended by the jab. "And which one of us spent ten minutes whimpering into my shoulder?"

"There was so much blood!" Kageyama groans, pulling the blanket up to his chin. Hinata really doesn't think anything about that statement should be cute, but it is. He laughs and readjusts the blanket, resting his head on Kageyama's chest.

"Scaredy-cat."

"I heard you!" Kageyama flicks the side of his head. "You know what - shut up and go to sleep."

"What about you?" Hinata asks.

Kageyama shrugs. "I'll finish this." He nods to the screen, and Hinata forgets what was playing.

"Too scared to go to sleep?" Hinata teases, but a yawn interrupts the statement.

Kageyama soundlessly flicks Hinata's head again as a response, except it's lighter now, almost an invitation to relax.

Hinata laughs again, quietly this time, as he settles into sleep. He hears Kageyama's heartbeat, and it's too fast. It's loud and racing, and Hinata feels a little guilty that Kageyama got this scared over a movie Hinata chose. "You really are scared," he murmurs.

"What?" Kageyama asks, and he sounds distracted.

"Your heartbeat," Hinata says. "It's like, dundundundundun." He pats what he assumes is Kageyama's shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll protect you."

Kageyama frowns down at him - the thoughtful frown, where his right eyebrow lifts higher than the left. He hesitates, then replies, "I'll protect you, too."

That's probably when Hinata falls asleep, because everything becomes hazy. (He's probably dreaming when he feels the blanket envelop him completely and something light brushes his forehead and he hears Kageyama whisper, "That's not why my heartbeat's fast, dumbass.")

* * *

_\+ i._

Kageyama's not very good with words, but that's only to be expected. He's especially not good with nice words, or words about feelings, or nice words about his feelings to confess to a certain person who just so happens to be great at both words and feelings.

It's not like he needs words anyways. Kageyama doesn't need to say things for the certain person - okay, fine, it's Hinata, but apparently everybody knows that already - to understand. He's doesn't have to tell Hinata what he likes and what he doesn't and when he feels sad or angry or happy, but apparently that's not normal and people need to actually say things.

Kageyama wonders how they do it. He only has to say one thing, but that one thing would change everything and he's already failed at saying so many other things, so why would this be different?

Hinata calls from inside the changing room, "I'm almost done! I can't find my phone!"

Kageyama had seen his phone underneath the second bench, but he stays quiet for once. He really needs this extra time to get his shit together before throwing all pride under a bus. If only his old teammates could see him now.

The plan is simple. Walk Hinata home, buy him a pork bun or ice cream or whatever it is he wants, and while the other boy's preoccupied, abandon all dignity and spill all his fucking guts.

God, he wants to throw up already.

"I like you, dumbass," Kageyama tries. He shakes his head. That doesn't sound romantic at all.

"I like you...Shoyo." He blushes at the sound of Hinata's name on his lips. He doesn't want to freak Hinata out, though. He tries again.

"Hinata, I like you." That still doesn't sound right. "A lot." Deep breath. "A lot more than I should, actually. You're stupid and loud and clumsy but you jump really high and you're always there for me and you make everyone smile..."

He whips around at the sound of a swinging bag and sees Hinata, fucking Hinata, the person he was rehearsing for, _Hinata_ , staring with an open mouth while frozen in a weird crouching stealth pose. "...Dumbass," Kageyama adds, because he's pretty sure Hinata heard his practice confession and "dumbass" is basically his knee-jerk reaction.

Hinata gapes. "You...what...what did you just say?"

"Dumbass," Kageyama repeats blankly. His brain has promptly shut off, and he's a little grateful that he doesn't have enough brain power to panic.

"No!" Hinata flushes. "What you said before that."

"Oh." Kageyama wonders if this is the beginning of a rejection speech. "Uh, well, I said I like you."

Hinata breaks into a grin, but it's small and tentative, like it's not sure if it should even be there. "Oh. And, uh, the rest?"

"You're stupid and loud and clumsy."

"Kageyama!" Hinata stomps his foot and _fuck_ it's cute. "You should be confessing to me!"

"So you heard it?" Kageyama's still confused at what this reaction means.

"Of course I heard it," Hinata says, laughing, but Kageyama sees he's trying to hold it back. "So do you like me?"

"You heard what I said."

Hinata tugs at his bag strap. "I did. But aren't you gonna repeat it?"

Kageyama groans and he's pretty sure he's scowling at this point. "Why do I have to torture myself twice?" But one look at Hinata and his stupid (cute) stupid (hopeful) smile is enough to break him. "I like you," he repeats, and it's barely above a whisper.

But it's enough, because Hinata's tentative laugh grows louder, and a smaller arm hooks around his waist to lead him in a walk. "I like you too."

Kageyama isn't good with words, but he doesn't need to be. And maybe he doesn't tell Hinata that he agreed to spend five hours on a stupid puzzle all because of a stupid smile, or that he filled an entire notebook of doodles and arrowed hearts while daydreaming about orange hair, or that he really wants to kiss a certain set of lips that always has crumbs stuck to the corner. Maybe he doesn't tell Hinata that he finds him cute or he makes his heart beat faster, but that's okay.

Not all things need to be said, and some things are better left unspoken.

**Author's Note:**

> the talented [ aricecks ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aricecks) made a short [ comic ](https://awesomearime.tumblr.com/post/645490205158146048/of-all-left-unspoken-some-need-to-be-said) based on the puppy scene so go check it out !! it's so cute they did it so much justice :))
> 
> [here's ](https://snowbertlover.tumblr.com/) my tumblr if you wanna say hi ! also if you liked this, [here's ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29193693) a similar fic (it's the first actual fic I wrote in like three years tho so be warned)


End file.
